Some thought Lenovo would escape a battery recall that hit its competitors Dell and Apple (see our coverage from December 2005 and August 2006), but it seems a reported fire involving a ThinkPad laptop changed things. The company issued a voluntary recall in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall affects ThinkPad laptops, including the R51e, R52, R60, R60e, T43, T43p, T60, X60, and X60s. Sony batteries would have been sold with these systems between February 2005 and September 2006. Users who don't have these model laptops shouldn't believe they are not affected by the recall. Since the ThinkPad T4x or ThinkPad R5x Series notebooks use similar batteries, the recall also affects any replacement or extra battery bought for these models acquired during the same period.

Lenovo established a website to address the recall where consumers can check to see if their ThinkPad battery is affected by the recall. If affected, users will be directed to call the Customer Support Center for a replacement battery. Early replacement requests are expected to take three to four weeks. The company is recommending that affected users remove the battery from their ThinkPad and use power from an AC adapter until their battery is replaced.

BRIAN'S OPINION
A battery recall is a complete nightmare for I.T. departments. This Lenovo recall is even worse since the affected models have batteries interchangeable with older models. This may have been an advantage in the past, but now it means a recall such as this one practically expands to an entire laptop base depending upon the variety of laptops used.

I found it interesting that the FAQ document for Lenovo's Battery Recall specifically addresses the use of laptops on planes. This was in specific reaction to the steps taken by airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, and Korean Air to ban Dell and Apple laptops after their battery recalls. One would imagine the same airlines would take the same step toward ThinkPad laptops.

Hopefully, Sony and other battery manufacturers are learning something from all of these recalls. Consumers were beginning to move toward purchasing laptops over desktops as the price point came down. As laptop manufacturers began to recall batteries in response to pictures of flaming laptops, consumers are probably reconsidering.

Battery(10:03am EST Fri Sep 29 2006)There are evidence that fuelcell is used in on e of the laptop models. These fuel cells can convert methanol to hydrogen and then burn the laptop.AS the technology improves, newer methods have been found to powerup devices. These are only causing keyosks.We should be aware of this fact and avoid we should not use thechnoclogy to the max.lets all switch off our lamps and get into darkness.am – by amwww

Wow(5:38pm EST Sat Sep 30 2006)Looks like those qulity Sony batteries hit another manufacturer. Can't wait for more great quality products from Sony with those special extra crispy features. – by What's burning?

This is so damn funny to me. I hope the PS3 doesn't use any batteries.

When will they learn? Or…is this the begining of the end, of Sony? – by BrotherWitch

Posts not going in(9:23am EST Sun Oct 01 2006)I am getting pissed – I type a test post and it works.I type a valid post about this article and it does not.– by xxx

Brian(9:26am EST Sun Oct 01 2006)wtf is going on with valid posts not going in? – by Pissed off

Censorship lives in geek.com eh?(9:27am EST Sun Oct 01 2006)I can surmise that censorship is the reason for certain posts not being accepted – by Is that it?

How much is IBM paying?(2:30pm EST Sun Oct 01 2006)I cannot be the only IT tech who has been stiffed by IBM on this battery recall. Where are all the responses from them? – by Censored

Jokes on Who(9:50pm EST Sun Oct 01 2006)Sony is so screwed this shows all what a sorry ass company SONY has become.

Overpriced crappy music players,

Late to the HDTV flatscreen

Got no portable music players

And lastly is late and overpriced on PS3…

Sony's list of woes is growing. That is what you get when you get some stupid European to run a Japanes company! – by Jokes on Sony

SONY Piece of Shat 3(3:58am EST Mon Oct 02 2006)don't let the PS3 fall into terrorist hands. They might use it as a weapon guidance. Or they may use it to communicate with allah for strategic manueverings of killer robots. – by devils son

IBM(8:27am EST Mon Oct 02 2006)Yea as head of our IT department, I can officially say, THIS JUST F'D UP MY MONDAY! – by THE MAN